The election pits “conservative” Republicans against “liberal” Democrats. The “conservatives” are pro-business, pro-life, pro-religion, and pro-family. The “liberals” are pro-equality, pro-welfare, pro-environmentalist, and pro-“big” government.

As the campaign begins, the ideological gap between the two parties seems the widest. As the election nears, the gap narrows considerably as each party attempts to gain the support of the moderate middle, where most of the voters are. After the election, the actual policies of “liberal” presidents versus “conservative” presidents are about as different as the taste of Pepsi versus Coke.

In practice, all presidents seem to be pro-Israel, pro-free trade, and pro-immigration. They allow the Federal Reserve to control the economy and Wall Street big shots to control Washington. They may criticize the moral degeneration of American society but do virtually nothing to stop it. They may make symbolic gestures to stop the growing power of the United Nations and the subsequent loss of U.S. sovereignty, but those trends continue. They may threaten to “get tough with China” but do nothing to stop Chinese economic and military growth at the expense of the U.S.

The media charade is designed to make the public believe that they have real choice when it comes to their political leaders. It is designed to make them believe that the democratic process is genuine and honest and that the people really do govern the nation through their political representatives and thereby decide the destiny of the nation. In that sense, the U.S. media is quite successful and the entertaining political circus it provides makes perfect sense.